Word Count: 5,213
A/N: Enjoy the fifth chapter and be sure to leave a review on how the story is progressing so far!
Chapter v – Lullaby
they said the anchor would keep you steady, keep you from drifting away. they realized the anchor would pull you down, down, down to your death but they didn't realize you would begin anew.
"Enuciate correctly Harry! Ah-gwa-men-tay. Not Ah-qwa." Hermione reprimanded Harry with a frown. She realized that it was barely a week till the first challenge so she dragged her best friend down to the black lake where they started practicing immediately. They were in an area that was close to the Durmstrang ship and its dock. Hermione figured that this would not be an issue for them. Currently the two were working on a spell that propelled a blast of water wherever the caster chose to point their wand.
Hermione had always worked best near the water if the library was not available and for this particular activity there was no way the library would let them soak down the books. Almost the entire night was spent reading up on spells that might work in defense against a dragon. She figured that since most dragons breathed fire it would not hurt for Harry to learn a dousing-type spell to stop the dragon's fiery breathes. Of course for this to work Harry would actually have to master the spell and get his wand to spit out more than a water gun's feeble capability.
"Remind me again how spraying the dragon with mere water is going to help me not die. I've only gotten it right twice." Harry sighed as they trained for the past two hours and the best he could conjure was enough to annoy the dragon at best. He understood that they were pressing his ability and quickness to learn but come the following he was a goner without anything.
"Honestly Harry…Dragon breathe fire. You use Water. Water get rid of fire. Get the picture?" It was rare for Hermione to make a joke and deep down she had known Harry needed it so she put her bossy nature aside when she had spoken. Harry looked up to her, at first he thought she was going to lead into a lecture but it was his turn to be surprised. Neither of them fought the laugh that had made its way between them, they had both needed it. There was a silence between the two, only the water crashing against the aged logs of the dock making any noticeable sounds to interrupt.
"Right, right. I'll try one more time, okay?" Harry responded feeling slightly renewed for some reason. It had been a while since it had just been he and Hermione and it made him feel happy on the inside because he cherished their friendship.
"Good...and I'm sorry. I'm just irritable because I was up all night. You've got this, okay? Think hard and think powerful. The more you concentrate the bigger and better the outcome." Hermione did her best to instill a bit of confidence within her friend. She watched as he walked forward towards the shoreline, mere inches from where the water was rubbing against the gritty sand and rock.
"Aguamenti!" Harry yelled forth with newfound confidence that Hermione was astounded of the power produced from him. He had taken a minute to say the spell but it appeared to be worth it. A surge of powerful water burst from his wand at an alarming rate and into the distance ahead of them. Harry had been pointing his unstable wand into the air at an angle so the water surged into the sky almost. Harry had been smiling wildly before Hermione had yelled at him.
"Harry! Point it elsewhere or stop, you're aiming at the dock!" Hermione went wide eyed as the flurry of water heaved forth even though Harry had no longer been fueling the spell. He must have put forth quite the effort that it had continued even after his wand no longer produced the thick train of liquid. She watched as the water gushed into the dock and as a result the only poor soul in its wake tumbled straight into the water.
"…Er…oops?" Harry frowned as he swiped his head to the side to see her looking disapprovingly at him. He immediately looked back at the area the person had fallen in at and suddenly saw a head break the surface. Whoever had fallen in was looking straight at them before they began to swim for the nearby ladder.
"I knew we shouldn't have practiced this close...and where do you think you're going?" Hermione blurted out, a minor flare of fury gracing her face as she saw had begun to slink off. He immediately froze and turned back around.
"We need to go see if they're okay. Come on already Harry." Hermione grabbed the sleeve of Harry's uniform and dragged him toward the dock. It did not appear to be that far of a walk and Hermione's inner nurturing nature was showing through so Harry did not choose to argue further. He did not want Hermione's wrath against him anyways.
"Wait! We're really sorry about getting you knocked into the lake and-" Hermione and Harry had barely caught up with the mystery person. They were obviously Durmstrang from the build and the haircut, not that anyone else would be lingering on the docks, but they only saw their back as they had begun to walk towards the ship. When the person turned around Harry heard Hermione gasp and when he took a chance to look down his face showed confusion at her. The fourteen year old watch as his friend's face turned a faint shade of pink.
"Viktor?" Hermione had called as the person, who had looked all too familiar to Harry and the name even more, walked nearer. As he stopped in front of them, his soaked clothes clinging to his body from his recent dip in the lake.
"Her-mayo-knee? Dat was you two?" Viktor cocked his head sideways, rather curiously. He proceeded to wipe the water from his mouth that seemed to continue to trail there.
"Sort of…we were just practicing some spells. We didn't mean for you to get into the crossfire of it is all." Hermione looked down sheepishly. She was entirely embarrassed by the situation and almost regretted making Harry come to apologize.
"Yeah…I'm, uh, really sorry about that. Didn't think it'd be that powerful." Harry awkwardly interjected himself into the conversation for the first time and Viktor immediately looked to him and kept his eye contact. Their almost seemed to be a faint smile.
"No problems here. Did good job on the spell at least, very powerful if you made it all the way to the dock." Viktor shook his head good naturedly and Harry could almost feel the figurative weight on his back lift away instantly.
"I'm Viktor." Harry was not sure if Viktor could tell he had been a bit nervous but it had practically melted away at the introduction. He noted the extension of his hand towards him.
"Harry." He closed the gap between their hands and accepted the handshake. Nothing less than he expected, the pro quidditch player had quite the strong grip.
"So, you two already know each other?" Harry questioned with an innocent type of curiousness that fueled his question. Of all people Hermione had made a friend with, the least he had expected would have been with Viktor Krum.
"Something like that." Hermione quickly responded and Viktor had dismissed himself from their sudden meeting. He had preferred to get changed before the chill in the air became annoying against his damp skin.
The two had gotten close to the Hogwarts' courtyard when Harry spoke up again with a light laugh, "Didn't think you would have made friends with the Durmstrang so quickly."
"I've only really made friends with Viktor…" Hermione trailed off but found the courage to speak again, "I know he's your competitor but he hasn't tried to ask me about you at all I promise. I just think he's a bit lonely especially to be speaking with someone like me but he makes for nice company."
"Don't talk about yourself that way Hermione, anyone would be lucky to have you as their friend, and I don't think you'd sell me out like that. Not when you're the only one who believes I really didn't put my name in the goblet." Harry frowned at the way Hermione's voice when quiet. He was silently glad that Ron was not here for this and whenever Ron came to his senses he was definitely going to leave the bit about Hermione and Viktor being friends out of it. He could not even imagine how his friend would react to Viktor being friends with Hermione over him.
"Alright, alright. Do you want to head to the great hall for dinner? I'm absolutely starving." Hermione nodded with a small smile before she directed the conversation in a different direction. Harry eagerly nodded with no vocal reply.
"Oh and don't forget, I want to at least go over some more of the spells I found either tonight or tomorrow." Hermione added on after she thought about it.
"We'll have to do it tomorrow, Moody said he wanted to see me after dinner. Not sure why, it's a bit odd of him but I should just go and get it over with." Harry sighed. All he wished was just to be less confused than he was now. So many thoughts occupied his mind that just did not know what he was going to do about anything these days.
"Hmm, alright but let me know if anything happens okay?"
"Ok Hermione."
The day that followed was far less uneventful than the previous for Harry and Hermione. They were both in the library neck deep in books and Harry as quite sure he would have a thick layer of dust coating him by the end of the session.
"I don't know, isn't there some type of spell to make the dragon, you know, less dangerous?" Harry questioned to Hermione as he aimlessly flicked through the pages of the book, Spells to Save You in a Bind, in his hands. Hermione simply gave him a pointed look for his pointless question.
"That'd be like getting me to stay out of trouble wouldn't it?" Harry added on after catching wind of the way Hermione had chosen to look at him.
"Pretty much," Hermione went back to skimming her own book before stopping again with an odd look in her eye, "Well I suppose you could try a switching spell. That wouldn't be very practical I think unless you switched its fangs for…wine-gums perhaps?"
Harry snorted at her suggestion and knew that it was out the question.
"Regardless we'll have to be picky about what spells we chose because dragon hide is very resistant and hard for spells to go through. Your shot would have to be extremely precise." Hermione chided with her afterthought and rolled her eyes when Harry sent her the same exact look she had given him not moments earlier.
"Alright, alright I'm just being honest." Hermione sighed and watched Harry slump further down in his seat.
"Stupefy isn't going to work either. You'd need an entire group of people just to take the damn thing down." Harry mumbled halfheartedly. He lifted his hand to sweep the fallen hair that was just over his eyes.
"Well duh," Hermione responded but glanced to Harry out of the corner of her eye who was still looking hopeless, "But how did you know that? You aren't one to just know random things about dragons at random."
She could see him mulling over something before he sat up abruptly, "Let's just say when I saw the dragons I got a front row preview of everything."
"Harry you were that close!?" Hermione seethed, a great big frown on her face now. Harry waved this off however, though he winced at the way she reacted when he let more details about his visit with the dragons slip than he intended.
"Nothing happened to me you know that. Focus on the bigger picture because I think I know a spell that I will need to know. Moody told me that I should play to my strengths and he insinuated that flying on my broom was the key."
"That's true…you're amazing on a broom but you wouldn't be able bring it into the field would you?" Hermione responded, deep in thought, as she tried to work out all the possible scenarios of why this would be a plausible theory.
"No…but I am allowed my wand. Hermione, would you be able to teach me the summoning charm?" Harry did not delayed his request any further. He was sure his friend could catch onto the plan at this point as well.
"Oh…you want to call your broom into field so you can outfly…the dragon? That's crazy dangerous Harry!" Hermione bit her lip looking worriedly at Harry.
"Well it's better than being stranded in the arena to play rag doll. C'mon Hermione please, it can't be that hard can it?" Harry pleaded as he plopped his arms onto the table which stirred the dust that had grown still. Hermione sneezed not a moment later but she looked Harry square in the eyes.
"Of course I'm going to teach you, that doesn't mean I won't be worried, besides what would a year at Hogwarts be without you and crazy dangerous stunts?" Hermione smile good-naturedly, hoping that would lighten the mood. Harry smiled back and her while he watched her stand from the chair.
"Well? Don't just sit there we can start with all these books. You're going to have to use the word Accio." She gestured towards the pile of books on the table, some open while others were closed, with a certain sparkle in her eyes.
"Hermione! I've definitely gotten the charm down." Harry walked fast-paced to his friend, eagerly sitting beside her during their breakfast hour.
"Is that right? I'm so proud, you've done quite wonderfully the past couple days." Hermione smiled at him before going back to eating her jam and toast. Harry scooped a good portion of eggs onto his place and grabbed a slice of buttered toast. The two ate in welcomed silence, their meal so delicious that neither felt the urge to interrupt with words. A few minutes passed before Harry chose to break it.
"Oh Hermione, I was just wondering…why does Ron have your sweater?" Harry watched as she stopped cold mid-bite and her eyes progressed into that of a confused look.
"Er…pardon? What do you mean he has my sweater? I lost it at the beginning of the month right before I went to Hogsmeade and haven't seen it since." Hermione finished the bite of food in her mouth and proceeded to frown. She wondered when Ron had found it, perhaps he had come across it the last few days and had avoided giving it to her because she had helped out with Harry lately.
"Yeah I saw it sitting on his trunk in our room. You can go and ask him about it if you want, I'll be fine by myself. It looks like he's getting ready to leave anyways." Harry gestured through the look of his eyes towards Ron who was getting up from the table. Hermione merely nodded and finished the last few bite of toast and took a nice sip of her pumpkin juice to wash it down. She waved to Harry before running off.
Hermione did not catch up to Ron till she jogged down the left corridor from the great hall. She had called out to him and he turned around without fail, a nice smile accompanying his face.
"Hey 'Mione, what's up?" Ron seemed earnestly curious as to what Hermione had called out to him for.
"I, uh, heard through the halls that you found my sweater? I'd really love it back since it's my favorite and all." Hermione looked to him expectantly, though her features reverberated nothing but pleasantness towards the red head. She watched as he went wide eyed, though it was only noticeable for a split second.
"Er…oh yeah! I found it on the carriage when we went to Hogsmeade, I haven't really gotten a chance to give it to you since you've been hanging out with...Harry." Ron responded sheepishly, rubbing his hand against the back of his shaggy hair.
"…I guess that makes sense. Would you have time before class to grab it or would later work?" Hermione looked quite eager to have her favorite article of clothing back in her possession.
Ron and Hermione headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room after that where Hermione was reunited with her sweater. She had proceeded to give Ron a hug as her appreciation for keeping it safe and he had left almost immediately because he was going to be late for morning detention with Snape, not class like Hermione had assumed.
It's only later that night when Hermione had a realization that hit her dead on. Something had struck her silly when she remembered how Ron told her she lost her sweater on the carriage to Hogsmeade. It was only a moment later that she recognized she had lost it the day before. Ron had lied straight to her face and she had no earthly clue as to why he had done so. A new set of questions had surged forth in her mind.
Why did he really keep her sweater for that long? Did he even intend to give it back to her?
It was a deeply kept secret, one that only Hermione knew, that kind of fancied Ron. She did not dare tell a soul, not even Ginny. Lately though, with the way he behaved she was strongly reassessing her crush on him. He had acted quite weirdly since the summer and it had started to un-nerve her greatly.
Despite how much this irked her, and doubt would irk her in the days to come, she was forced to put her worried curiosity aside. She had only just made up with Ron and she certainly did not need to spark another fight amongst them, especially with the first task only days away. She needed to be more focused on the challenge Harry was facing.
The remaining days until the twenty-fourth passed by far quicker than Hermione would have liked but she knew the sooner the day got there the quicker the first task would be over. She was feeling stressed beyond belief as she thought of when Harry had been called away to prepare for the first task.
Since it was the weekend and there were no classes for the day she spent the morning coddling Crookshanks. Being the loyal half-kneazle he was, Crookshanks took the over-affection in stride. He had escaped eventually, however, in search of his food dish and left Hermione to seek distraction elsewhere.
It was hours later that Hermione ventured from the castle like most of the school, the task would be beginning within the hour and she was not going to miss it for anything. She sought out a different path, however, one that led her to the champion's tent. The tent was large and covered by several decorated burlap-looking sheets which surely would have billowed outwards if the wind had been any stronger.
There was a series of rocks clustered together that Hermione was headed toward and proceeded to delicately place down the wrapped object that was in her hands beside them. She slid the covering off which revealed Harry's Firebolt. After making sure all was in place she headed towards the tent once more.
Hermione could see the silhouette of someone pacing right beside the inside border of the tent. She lingered closely for a moment before she pressed her hand against the makeshift wall softly.
"Harry?" Hermione whispered harshly through the sheet accompanied by a tone that was more worried sounding than anything, "Is that you?"
"Yeah." Out of habit Harry nodded shakily though Hermione did not see this very clearly."
"How are you feeling?" Hermione trailed off and when Harry did not verbally respond she continued, "The key is to concentrate…after that you just have to-"
"Battle a dragon." Harry finished the statement he had interrupted rather calmly. There was still a perplexed look in his eyes and after a moment he was bombarded by Hermione shoving the sheet away and hugging him strongly enough to send him to the mediwitch before the first task even started. There was a loud snap and a bright flash that interrupted them.
Hermione pulled away from the hug, blinked, and watched as none other than Rita Skeeter entered through another part of the tent, her notebook and over excitable quill floating after her.
"Young love, how…stirring." She drawled on, though she took a moment to mark her words down carefully in the notepad and continued on talking as if what she spouted had a shred of meaningful evidence. Hermione knew she was up to nothing good and practically fumed on the inside, ready to argue with the horrid woman. She was beat to the punch however.
"You have no business here, this tent is for champions…and friends." Viktor had interjected and stepped closer to the vile woman. He looked rather perturbed but it faded back to an uncaring look. He had spared a very short glance towards Hermione but she was focused on Rita.
"No matter, I've gotten what I came for." Rita remarked offhandedly and flicked her hand in the air which dissolved her notes and quill into thin air. She practically stalked out of the tent with the cameraman who flashed a quick picture of Viktor as well before he too left in pursuit of an exit.
Fleur and Cedric were hanging a bit farther back at this point no doubt they had tried to avoid getting their picture taken by the reporter who always seemed to layer lie upon lie of her subjects. Viktor, however, had stepped closer to both Hermione and Harry. He nodded towards Hermione and though it was not evident on the outside he was quite eager to have seen Hermione before the tournament as he had not expected her to be there.
"Be careful okay? Good luck." Hermione spoke softly, almost too quietly. She did not direct it to a specific boy but deep down she meant it to both. She looked up giving a short smile while she looked to Viktor that nobody but the two of them noticed. With that she left the tent before anyone else found out she was there, technically speaking it was against rules for her to be there as well. Viktor had simply covered for Hermione with Rita to alleviate further allegations on the girl.
Hermione would have liked to have said she was not as affected by Viktor's turn against the dragon but she was. Of course, for Cedric and Fleur she had the basic amount of concern, Hermione did not want anyone to get hurt, but while Viktor evaded the wrath of the Chinese fireball's flames she almost found herself on the edge of her seat. She had sat with Ron and gripped his arm accordingly.
When Viktor cast the conjunctivitis curse on the dragon she remarked how they was actually a rather smart move but when he almost got stomped to death instead of the dragon's eggs she wanted to reconsider. He had snagged the golden egg and the crowd roared for him. She knew he would probably lose points for the eggs that had been crushed but it was worth it simply for the fact he had gotten on without injury.
"Ow Hermione, loosen up, you've got a death grip on my arm. Why are you so on edge?" Ron frowned, rubbing the area that Hermione had previously. She had not realized she had done so and looked at him shamefacedly.
"Oh, sorry Ron I'm just nervous is all. That was quite a wild dragon wouldn't you say?" Hermione spoke a half-truth towards the red-head. In truth she was worried, just not worried about the dragon as much as she found herself worried about Viktor.
"Yeah but Krum is the competitor. You shouldn't be so worried...he can take care of himself." Ron stared at her as if she had grown two heads. Hermione secretly wondered if Fred and George had been teasing him about his adoration for the quidditch seeker.
"I…I-" Hermione was caught off when the canon for Harry to enter sounded. She and Ron immediately dropped the conversation and watched as their friend timidly made their way out. The dragon took a moment but when it caught sight of him it had not been happy in the least. She hoped that he had called upon his broom by now.
There was a chorus of noise going throughout the stand but the dragon heard none of it due to the charming that had been done. The horntail was entirely focused on Harry, its roar overpowering the noise of the surrounding crowd. It was a sudden change in pace when she saw Harry quickly jump to his incoming broom.
Hermione's nerves skyrocketed as Harry played tag in the air with the dragon, evading its attempts at burning him alive or knocking him to the ground with its angry tail. He had managed fine so far in not getting hurt but she almost felt her heart stop when the tip of a blade on its tail sliced against his shoulder. There was a collective sigh of relief in the stands when he did not fall and hung onto, soaring just a bit higher into the air.
Within a matter of moments Hermione realized he was trying to goad the dragon even the slightest bit away from the eggs. She bit her lip as the dragon seemed to become more and more irate at his attempts. The spurts of heavy fire continued before she saw the dragon's wings spread as if it were going to make an attempt at Harry.
And then he dove hard. Hermione watched with wide eyes as he went down with a quick burst of speed. The dragon had not even realized what was coming and it had been the creature's downfall. Harry had grasp of the golden egg now and he soared out of range of the dragon happily, off to a safe area she presumed to be helped with now that the task was finally over.
Hermione cheered loudly along with the rest of her house and what appeared to be some of the other Hogwarts's houses. When she glanced to her left she could see Ron acted beyond happy that Harry had such a wonderful outcome. The two of them hurried off at that point to meet with him.
They found him quickly enough exiting the medical tent, Ron hurried almost as fast as Hermione but her legs carried her just a bit faster. When she caught sight of Harry she called out loudly for his attention.
"Harry! That was brilliant." She rushed towards him, closing any distance between them as she took his hands in her before she hugged him rather tightly, "You were amazing, you really were!"
Harry knew that Hermione had been stressing about what would end up happening during the first task and he was thankful to say he was not worse for wear and nothing truly harming towards him had occurred. He was safe, sound, and he even had the golden egg that would give him a good push towards the second task. His attention on her was short lived, however, when he noticed Ron who was looking rather pale after what he had witnessed.
"Harry. I…I…whoever put your name into the goblet, well they obviously have it in for you." Ron spoke earnestly as he seemed to finally adapt the attitude he should have had from the get go. Hermione stared wide eyed at the two boy's exchanges and in the end it left her shaking her head at them ridiculously.
"Are you serious? That's that? You two are so stupid!" Hermione, overcome with emotion, quickly captured both boys in a group hug before she ran off to her own devices. This left both boys to discuss what Harry had missed while he had waited in the tent for his turn.
Hermione meanwhile had beamed when she saw that Harry was tied for first place, tied with none other than Viktor. Perhaps they would be able to handle everything after all.
It had rained the following day and Hermione felt the halls were crowded especially since there were no classes for the day as well, they had been granted an unscheduled three-day weekend. She immediately went into the library after lunch to read a bit of her muggle-written books for enjoyment. Rather engrossed in her book she did not jump when the seat beside her became taken by a largely sized Bulgarian. He wore a long sleeved, dark grey shirt that was barely stained by the droplets of water when he made the trek through the rain when it was merely a drizzle.
"Will you tell me what happens in book?" Viktor questioned her in hopes of dragging her mind out the book and it worked when she casually look up with a smug smile.
"I don't do spoilers Viktor. You'll have to read it yourself to find out." Hermione chuckled lightly as she stuck her bookmark into place and closed the book. She pulled down the sleeves of her sweater almost immediately afterwards, she had rolled them up because the library had felt muggy to her. Now it was getting to be chilly again. This made her quite thankful she had pulled her hair into a bun albeit a messy one.
"Ah I see." Viktor nodded as she slid the book in his direction, "But you are reading it now, no?"
"Oh I'll be fine without it, I've read it plenty times to know it word for word. Take as long as you need to read it." Hermione presented him with a large, bright smile and his eyes softened in response. Viktor took the book without further question.
"I'm…glad that you didn't get hurt in the tournament yesterday. I saw you were tied for first with Harry as well, you did a wonderful job." Hermione was not sure why she felt the need to express so but there was a tugging in the back of her mind to say so and she could not ignore it any longer. She cut herself off, though, before she started to mindlessly babble in any shape or form to Viktor.
"Thank…you much Her-myo-nine. Wish Karkaroff would have acted that way, was much mad at me for running some of the eggs." Hermione almost snorted at his response but she felt slightly sad at what he said. Viktor taken first nonetheless, regardless of being a tie, in the first task so one would think a headmaster would be proud of that accomplishment. She had heard rumors throughout the halls lately about Karkaroff and none of them were too pleasant. Viktor did not seem to be stuck in a mode where he mindlessly followed around his headmaster, he only met with him when the need called for it.
"He should feel proud of what you've accomplished in the first task."
Thank you so much to those who are continuing to follow the story and those who have just found out about Bread Krums. As always, reviews and favorites are always welcome as well as appreciated!