AN: So I have reached the point in my writing where the story kinda carried me in its own direction. Originally I wanted the pairing here to bounce around between Daphne and Tonks before he finally decided and lived happily ever after, or whatever. Well it didn't work out that way and now it just happened out and I think its gonna be a Harry/multi story. I know this triggers some people so I wanted to put the word out now instead of someone having to read through another 10 chapters to see it and decide they hate the story now.

The day after the Hogsmeade trip, Harry found himself sitting by the black lake with several of his friends having a picnic. As he sat there he was fidgeting with his dragon egg, trying to figure out how to open it. He had tried twisting, shaking, pulling, prying, and everything else he could think of with no luck. He finally got frustrated with it and threw it on the ground, striking a rock and causing it to split open. He smiled as everyone gathered around and listened to the deep grunting voice that came from it now.

"Though we normally only stand guard,

Our new task finds out in the yard.

Come seek us where we're not normally found,

Though we stand all around these grounds.

We may be made of simple stone,

But your skills you'll want to hone;

Because as you're searching ponder this-

We've taken that which you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, we won't give it back."

Harry replayed the message in his mind as he tried to decipher it's meaning. "A stone that stands guard, and it will be somewhere it doesn't normally stand? And they will take something from me, and I have an hour to find it." The last part was pretty clear but what kind of stone guards anything?

"What kind of stone guards things? The castle walls? Does that mean they are going to hide something in the castle and make you find it?" Daphne said.

"No, it said the task is in the yard." Tracey pointed out.

"Maybe they meant the courtyard. It's inside the walls but is still a yard." Neville said eliciting nods from most of the group.

Hermione had remained silent while the others brainstormed their ideas, trying to decipher the message on her own. "I don't think it's the castle walls, it says to seek them where they aren't normally found and walls can't very well move."

Her statement shot down the idea they had formed; it made too much sense. She had debunked the first theory but it didn't mean that she had presented one any better. It seemed they were all stumped.

It didn't take them long, however, to answer the riddle. After sitting around the lake for a while longer they gave up on the riddle and before long they headed back towards the castle. As they walked in the main entrance, Hermione stopped and began to smile. Harry noticed her absence and turned around to see her looking at the door smiling and wondered for a moment if she had finally cracked under pressure.

"Hermione?" He called out.

"I figured it out." She answered. The rest of the group now began to think along the same lines as Harry.

"Figured it out? Hermione, that's a door." Harry deadpanned.

"No you idiot, come here!" she replied. He hesitantly followed her direction and went to stand beside her. Following her gaze he looked upon the large stone golems that stood on either side of the door.

"I don't get it still." He said flatly, believing for sure that she was crazy now.

"They normally stand guard. They are made of stone. There are dozens of these scattered about the grounds. I think they are going to enchant the statues and you'll have to steal your item back from them."

"Son of a bitch."

Harry had felt bad about not asking Hermione to the ball and was both glad and a little hurt when he learned that she would be going with Krum. Deep down a part of him hoped that it wouldn't go well even though he had his own date. He had grown to care for Daphne and even Tracey in the time since their meeting in Hogsmeade, but he still deeply cared for Hermione. He put the thought to the back of his mind as he prepared for the coming evening; he was honestly terrified of the ball now. McGonagall had informed him only a couple of nights ago that as a champion he would be required to dance the first dance with his date to open the ball. He was not a professional dancer by any stretch, he was barely able to dance at all and now he would have to dance with everyone's eyes on him.

He had spent what time he could spare with Neville, who learned at a young age as most purebloods do, teaching him the basics. He figured that between his impromptu lessons and Daphne's lead he would make it through the night, but he was still worried.

He had gotten dressed an hour earlier than he had to and awaited in the common room for Hermione to come down and check him over and give him the approval to go out. When she finally arrived nearly half an hour later, he was stunned. He had noticed lately that she was filling out and that she was very pretty, but the dress she wore made her beautiful. It was periwinkle blue and seemed to sparkle in the light. The light-colored dress really made her eyes stand out. "Wow Hermione, you look wonderful." He said

"Thank you dear." She said with a smile before giving him a curtsy. "You look pretty spiffy yourself."

"Thank you as well Madam." He said as he also gave a quick spin. He had taken a page out of Sirius' book and was wearing a three-piece Armani suit with a black coat, black shirt underneath a silver vest, and a gold bowtie. His hair was still as messy as ever.

With a quick look around Harry and then at Neville who came rushing down a further 10 minutes later, she gave them both nods of approval before departing with her arm wrapped around Harry's.

They all met their dates at the courtyard to make their way to the ball. Once again Harry was stunned when he saw the other girls. Both Daphne and Tracey looked gorgeous in the moonlight. Daphne was wearing a sparkling silver dress to match Harry's shirt that came just below her knees with a split almost to her waist up one side, exposing a fair bit of her well-toned legs that ended in high heeled slippers. She had a small golden bow in her hair to go along with Harrys bowtie.

Neville had gone more traditional than Harry, wearing a formal dress robe in Red and gold. Tracey's dress was full length dark red with gold accent to match her date.

Krum was wearing a bulky looking blue suit that Harry thought looked very uncomfortable but was probably the best that money could buy considering Victor's status.

"Wow you both look stunning." Harry said as he looked over the new arrivals before handing Hermione off to Victor and kissing Daphne's knuckle and hooking his arm through hers.

"You look fine too, Herm-my-oh-knee." Victor said in his heavy accented English.

The group then made their way to the great hall at a leisurely pace, talking amongst themselves as they went; minus Viktor for the most part since he still struggled with English.

Upon arriving Professor McGonagall, who was wearing a very modest dressing gown of Gryffindor color, ushered Viktor and Harry along with Hermione and Daphne to the hall near the entrance to the great hall where they met Fleur and Cedric with their dates Roger Davies and Cho Chang.

"We shall remain here until all the other guests are seated and then enter the hall in ranks. Mr. Potter will be first in as he is the current leader, followed by Mr. Krum, Mr. Diggory, and finally Miss Delacour."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and Harry couldn't help but groan internally. He hated being the center of attention so very much, yet he was famous; to top it off he had gone and won the first task and would now be the first champion to enter the ball. "Dammit." He muttered.

Several more minutes passed before Professor McGonagall finally came back. "Alright, Mr. Potter. I hope you all enjoy your evening."

Harry held his arm out and allowed Daphne to grasp it, noticing that the other men present all did the same, before walking stiffly towards the entrance. "Loosen up a bit and act like you enjoy my company rather than being tortured." Daphne hissed before they had a chance to make it inside.

Harry mentally reprimanded himself before adjusting his posture. He was still walking rather stiffly but it was a regal stiffness rather than awkward and he had a large smile on his face. "Thanks." He whispered.

The voice of Bagman came as soon as he made it into the open doorway. "Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome our guests of honor! Led by Champion Harry Potter of the Emrys Academy with a perfect score of 50 points! He is escorting Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin house here at Hogwarts and I must say you look lovely Miss Greengrass!" As if choreographed (and he figured that the overzealous man had probably practiced more than a few times) Bagman finished speaking just as Harry pulled Daphne's chair out and allowed her to sit.

Viktor walked through the arch just as Harry sat himself. It made the illusion of choreography all the better; probably something magic if he had to guess. Bagman gave the same speech for each of the champions as they made their way down the center aisle to the center table. Once Fleur and Roger were seated it was Dumbledore who spoke rather than Bagman.

"Welcome one and all to the ball, please take notice of the menu present on your plate; you need only speak your desire and it shall be so. Please have a most wonderful night!" As soon as the headmaster finished speaking the hall erupted into murmurs from different people ordering their food and talking amongst each other.

Harry decided on grilled chicken while Daphne picked grilled fish, both accompanied with the proper wine which was listed on the menu, and after informing their menu of the choice, both were near instantly rewarded with an exquisite looking meal. Harry thought the normal feasts in the great hall were good food but this one definitely took the cake; it was the best meal he had ever eaten. They made small polite conversation as best they could with the others at the table as they ate before finally the moment Harry had been dreading was upon them. Apparently, Daphne noticed his trepidation because she rubbed his arm gently. "Everything will be fine love; you look great, I look great, just follow my lead." Daphne whispered as he led her to the dance floor.

Harry pulled his date close and began to sway as a slow song came over the hall. He did his best to keep his eyes on her rather than watching his feet as he so desperately wanted to do. Daphne guided him when needed, though he didn't need much help as it were. They were joined after a few seconds by the other champions and finished the song alone before the rest of the couples made their way to the floor.

For all his nervousness, Harry had to admit to himself that he was having a ball (pun intended) dancing. After a couple of songs with Daphne he went to Tracey and agreed to her swap, though only on the dancefloor, with a wink. He danced with Tracey, followed by Hermione, Susan, Ginny, Luna, and even Romilda Vain before finally sitting down to take a break. He watched in amusement as Daphne and Tracey now danced together to some upbeat song by the Weird Sisters.

Once he had gone back in for a couple more songs with Daphne, the pair found themselves walking through the courtyard arm in arm with Daphne resting her head on Harry's shoulder as they went. They passed several other couples who were 'occupied' in various ways before they heard a voice from around the corner that they didn't need to see to recognize.

". . . don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor. "

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it -"

"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly. "Flee - I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts. "

Snape and Karkaroff came around the corner. Snape had his wand out and was blasting rosebushes apart, his expression most ill-natured. Squeals issued from many of the bushes, and dark shapes emerged from them.

"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as a girl ran past him. "And ten points from Hufflepuff too, Stebbins!" as a boy went rushing after her. "And what are you two doing?" he added, catching sight of Harry and Daphne on the path ahead. Karkaroff, Harry saw, looked slightly discomposed to see them standing there. His hand went nervously to his goatee, and he began winding it around his finger.

"We're walking," Harry told Snape shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"

"Keep walking, then!" Snape snarled, and he brushed past them, his long black cloak billowing out behind him. "And 5 points from Gryffindor for your cheek!" Karkaroff hurried away after Snape. Harry shrugged before they continued down the path they were on. They finally found a bench away from all the other busier couples and took a seat after Harry noticed Daphne shiver a bit and draped his coat over her shoulders. He also cast a warming charm around the pair of them with only a thought. He had discovered quite helpfully that area of effect spells were easier to perform wandlessly than their precise counterparts. Daphne looked mildly impressed at this as she had noticed that he didn't move any.

"Hmm… Wandless magic, Mr. Potter? You never cease to amaze. And you also know how to treat a lady right. I think that kind of chivalry deserves a reward, now what will it be?" She put her hand to her chin in a thinking gesture before moving it and exclaiming. "I've got it!" and with no warning she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in to a long and deep kiss.

Later that evening back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry was sitting around the fire talking with his friends once again. He and Neville had shed their outerwear while poor Hermione was stuck in her dress, but she didn't seem to mind it. Harry thought she rather enjoyed the attention since it was the first time he remembered seeing her fixed up like that.

"How was your night, Hermione?" Harry asked her as he swirled his glass of wine just a bit. He had enjoyed the one at dinner so much he had called on Dobby to sneak him a bottle to share in the common room. Hermione had accepted a glass while Neville had declined, and Harry was on his 3rd. Or maybe 4th. He was having trouble remembering.

"It was great fun most of the night. Towards the end Viktor tried to get a little too close and had to stop him but he took it fine and we still had fun after. I enjoyed dancing with everyone, and the food was amazing. What about you guys?"

"I had fun and we danced a lot, but that kind of thing isn't really my forte." Neville said then blushed. "At least I got a goodnight kiss for my trouble."

Hermione grinned a bit while Harry was more vocal. "You dog, you. I'm glad for you mate!" He said as he held his glass up as if to toast. He was joined by Hermione with a 'dink' though Neville didn't have a drink to toast with.

"What about you Harry? I noticed you slipped away pretty early yourself." Neville replied with a wag of his eyebrows.

"Oh, yea I had a ball. Ba-dum-tss." He imitated the sounds of a drum sting to accentuate his pun. Neville and Hermione both came to the conclusion that he was well on his way to being drunk. "We took a walk in the courtyard and got yelled at by Snape for breathing." He paused to giggle. "Then we found a bench and sat for a while to talk, and then she said I deserved a reward and she kissed me. I was shocked at first but then it was actually kind of nice and I kissed her back and we wound up snogging for a while."

Hermione didn't know why it hurt her so much when he mentioned kissing her. It was even worse than when he mentioned going to the ball, but she wasn't sure why. She was his date they were supposed to kiss. But in the back corners of her mind, Hermione was thinking that SHE was the one who should have went with Harry and been kissed by him. Oh, how she yearned to taste him now that she thought about it; but like a forbidden fruit she wasn't able. Their friendship was more important than that, so she resolved not to show her displeasure. If it was meant to be, it would be.

A few days after the dance, the first of Dumbledore's friends had reached out to Harry. Like literally reach out as in reached out of the door of an unused classroom as he walked past and drug him inside. Croaker, as Harry later learned he was called, had to act quick to block a cutting curse and a followup blasting curse before disarming Harry, only to reel back as he caught a fist with his nose. He then stunned Harry and bound him to a chair and fixed his broken nose before reviving him.

"Let me go!" Harry screamed as soon as he returned to consciousness, thrashing around in his chair.

"Potter! Calm down I am a friend." The man said flatly as Harry stopped flailing.

"Then why am I tied up?" Harry demanded.

The man chuckled dryly. "Because you tried to decapitate me, blow me up, then broke my bloody fuckin nose."

"You grabbed me and drug me into an empty room what do you expect?"

"Exactly what you did, you've a warriors instinct and that's what'll get you through this war alive." The man waved his wand, banishing the ropes that held Harry. "My name is Algernon Croaker, and I'm an Unspeakable with the Department of Mysteries. Technically I don't exist. My division within the department reports to no one and is only known about by a handful of people in the world."

Harry was intrigued by the man in front of him. Doesn't exist, answers to no one, and basically unknown. Sounds like just the kind of guy to teach all the less than legal things that Dumbledore had hinted at.

"My err… job here will be to, for lack of better words, prepare you for war. The things I show you will have basically no mundane application, and most of it will actually be illegal in Magical Britain. You will take great care in how you use what is learned and who around. First thing first." He paused here and fished a small pocketwatch looking contraption from his pocket. "Have you ever seen one of these?"

"No, sir, what is it?"

"This device is called a time turner. Very highly regulated, basically impossible to acquire. We have a branch in the Department of Mysteries that studies nothing but time turners and other forms of time magic. I called in a favor to get this one. A flick of this dial will send you back in time, one hour per turn. Now the most important thing to remember and I can't stress this enough, you cannot be seen by yourself in the past; that's a one-way ticket to insanity basically. We'll be using this device on alternating days as to not wear you out too quickly. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you'll go about your regular day before going to the shrieking shack and turning back to the beginning of the day, then you'll apparate to my office at the Department of Mysteries where we'll begin our training."

Harry was about to protest on the grounds that he didn't know how to apparate before Croaker interrupted him. "Yes, the first thing you'll be learning is apparition, because it makes life infinitely more convenient.

Harry sat in the small tent with Fleur, Viktor, and Cedric listening to Ludo Bagman explain the rules of the second task. Hermione had been right and he was glad for her insight, having spent much of the last 2 months in the room of requirement training against conjured stone golems. The only real surprise came when the champions were told that rather than an item, they would be trying to recover a person. This news would change up his strategy just a bit but nothing major, Harry thought.

As the current points leader, Harry was given the first choice of position and decided that he would go first and get it over with. Viktor was next and chose to go last, followed by Cedric who decided to go as soon as possible leaving Fleur to go third.

After the order was decided and announced, Harry was ushered to the door where he was to await the starting signal. He didn't have to wait long before he heard a cannon blast and made his way out the door.

Harry and his friends had gone over several scenarios and strategies possible for retrieving what he assumed would be his firebolt, trying to account for the different landscapes and whatnot that the organizers could choose. The first thing he could see as he entered the arena was a thick forest with several paths leading deeper in.

He finally decided on a path and began making his way in wand drawn and at the ready. Today was overcast and with the canopy of trees blocking what little sunlight he had, it was fairly dark. He walked along at a fair pace while keeping his senses on high alert. He would have preferred to go a little slower but he only had an hour so he couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Not far in the path began to turn uphill, quickly becoming so steep that it was hard to get a footing normally. Not to be deterred, Harry began the climb using temporary sticking charms when he needed. After what seemed like forever he reached the top only to narrowly miss having his head taken off by a stone sword. He stumbled back and nearly fell before recovering and running away from the ledge. The golem swung once again, though it was much easier to dodge now that he was ready for it. He ducked under one horizontal swing before jumping back and to the side to avoid a stab. He now found that the golem was between him and the ledge, and with a simple reducto the golem was knocked back and lost it's footing before falling.

Harry turned back to the trail and continued on, noticing that the dry rock and dirt were quickly giving way to mud before finding himself standing at the edge of a lake that went as far as he could see in either direction. It was only about 30 feet across where he was at, but he wasn't sure what dangers might be in the water if he were to swim it. Down the shore a bit he could see a bridge running across a narrow part of the water but he knew without a doubt there would be more golems guarding the bridge. After a moment of thinking he had what he thought was the best of both worlds. He turned back to the nearest tree and felled it with a cutting curse before molding it into a small flat-bottom boat and an oar. He levitated the boat into the water and pushed himself off with a banishing spell and began to make his way across.

As Harry peered over the edge of the boat he could see some sort of figures swimming in the murky water; He figured they were either merpeople or grindylows, and neither was something he would like to fight in the water. He made it across the water without incident and made his way to the next path into the woods. A quick glance at his watch told him he still had just over 40 minutes left.

After a short trek through the woods Harry came out into a clearing. At the other side he could see a smallish castle with 2 of the golems standing guard at the front door. The castle had a total of 3 levels and he was certain that Daphne would be in the top floor somewhere. He quickly had to duck back into the foliage and hide as he saw a patrol of several golems headed his way. After they passed he began to silently make his way across the field using the scarce trees as cover when he could.

He was nearly 100 feet away when he heard a thump on the ground beside him. He turned to look and was surprised to see a large stone arrow buried into the soil. It took about half a second to realize what was happening and he dove aside just in time as another arrow just missed him. As he began to run he looked towards the upper levels of the castle to see 2 golems with bows firing at him. He shot a blasting curse at one and the spell found it's mark, blowing the upper part of the creature away just as he reached his destination. With a second to concentrate he gave a few waves of his wand to conjure a low rock wall, just taller than he was while crouching and a few feet wide. He tried to look over his wall to get a shot on the remaining archer but nearly lost his head when an arrow whizzed by. He quickly ducked back down and cursed his luck as he saw the earlier patrol running towards him now, weapons at the ready.

Harry took a deep breath to ready himself before flicking his wand towards the rapidly advancing soldiers. A large stream of fire burst from the tip of his wand and enveloped all three of the golems. He held the flames for a moment before letting them fade only to see that 2 of his enemies had survived the fire. Another blasting curse took care of one of them but the other rolled to the side and dodged. It was closing in on him now and he couldn't run and leave the protection of his wall lest the archer shoot him down. Another blasting curse this time just in front of golem. It hit the ground and caused dirt and rocks to fly everywhere while knocking the stone soldier off balance. Harry took the moments reprieve to capture all the small rocks in the air before waving his wand at the golem. The little rocks flew at it with incredible speed, pelting into and shattering its body.

Without relinquishing control of his rocks, Harry turned and waved his wand towards the area he thought the golem with the bow would be. The rocks shot off and when he heard the impact he quickly turned to see them hit the target. It was far enough away that they didn't kill this one like the last, but it was enough to distract it for a moment. Harry aimed at it and cast a strong summoning charm, watching with satisfaction as the archer tumbled over the edge and landed on one of the door guards, shattering both. The remaining door guard finally decided to leave his post and began charging at Harry, only to tumble to the ground with both legs chopped off cleanly courtesy of a water whip. Harry followed through the legs and around his own body before coming back around and splitting the golem's head in half.

With his enemies outside defeated he eased his way into the castle, trying and failing once more to sense any enemies. The only presence he noted was Daphne, who was located on the second floor rather than the top like he originally thought. As soon as he opened the door he had to drop to his knees to avoid a slash from a large halberd then had to roll right to avoid the follow up slash. He quickly slashed his wand upwards blasting a stream of sand into the golem's face obscuring his vision.

Harry took the moment to use the disillusionment charm on himself and quickly ran past the next couple of golems without being noticed. It was as he arrived on the second floor he realized that a disillusionment charm, while it worked great for creatures, had no effect on things such as tripwires. He learned this the hard way when he heard a loud click coming from the ceiling, followed by a grinding sound as two stone slabs- one on each side- started rotating down as if to crush him. He dove hard and narrowly avoided being crushed by several tons of stone only to find himself now falling down a pit. He spun his body around to look down and was unable to see the bottom; it looked endless from his perspective.

"Shit!" he screamed as he plummeted to his likely death. It only took a couple of seconds, but to him it felt like forever, before he cleared his mind and thought up a course of action. He wandlessly cast a levitation charm on himself while simultaneously using his want to conjure a rope with a grappling hook which he launched back towards the opening. He internally cheered as first he slowed from the levitation charm before stopping completely when the rope caught. He then began the climb back to the top, feeling the burn in his unused muscles as he pulled his weight up the rope.

After what seemed like hours once again, Harry was back at the top and only a few feet away from the unconscious and bound form of Daphne. He did a quick survey to find no more immediate threats before running over to her and cutting the ropes with the tip of his wand. He then pointed it at her and cast a rennervate charm, which to his dismay was ineffective. With a sigh of frustration he levitated her and began making his way further in towards the third floor, seeing how the way he came was now blocked by the stone that had tried to crush him. As he eased along the corridors he was more careful now to watch for traps, as everything would now be exponentially more difficult to dodge while keeping Daphne safe as well.

When he finally reached a stairwell headed up, he gently sat Daphne down and eased up the stairs looking for traps as he went. When he reached the top he noticed it was pitch dark, he couldn't even see his own hands. He didn't think lighting his wand and attracting any enemies to him would be a good idea, so he pointed it into the darkness and whispered. "Golem Revelio."

Several figures, more than Harry cared to count, illuminated in the darkness though they obviously weren't aware of his presence as they were standing as still as statues. He chuckled internally at his own pun before pushing out with his magic, trying to get a feel for the layout of the floor. It took a moment of intense concentration with his palm touching the floor before he had a good idea of his path to best avoid the enemies. He then returned downstairs to retrieve Daphne and quickly but silently made his way through the top floor on magical instinct alone, finally making his way up a ladder and through a trap door onto the roof.

As soon as he opened the trap door light flooded the room and he could hear several of the golems spring to life and began their grinding movements, no doubt converging on his location. "Goddammit!" He yelled out as he flipped Daphne out and onto the roof much more roughly than he would have liked before pointing his want back down the hole. "Bombarda Maxima!"

His arm recoiled back with the force of the spell and the entire castle shook under the force of it. Harry wasted no time in scooping Daphne up manually in his arms as the roof began to fall in behind him. He ran to the very edge and leapt just as the last bit of the building collapsed into itself. He now had only seconds to figure out how to stop his fall before he would become little more than a puddle where he landed, along with Daphne.

He thought back to falling in the tunnel and recycled the idea, waiting until he was only about 10 feet off the ground before he hugged Daphne tight and cast a levitation charm on her. She stopped falling immediately, only dipping slightly when Harry caught on as well. He then lowered them until he could touch the ground and took a look back at his obstacle, noting that it was little more than a pile of rock now. "Oops." He muttered as he turned to walk away.

"Due to some err… unforeseen circumstances, the rest of the contestants for the second task will be postponed until the following Saturday. Mr. Potter's will still count, however we will not release his scores until all of the champions have had their go." Mr Crouch's amplified voice called out. Everyone in the stands could clearly see what the 'unforeseen circumstance' was as the dust still hadn't settled after the collapse of the castle.